Toledo
Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral

Following a barbeque, we’ll assemble in the cathedral proper. The building was designed by architect William Richard Perry and completed in 1940. Extravagant Spanish-flavored motifs and Neo-Gothic carved furnishings adorn every corner of the stone and frescoed interior. Not only a feast for the eyes, the generous acoustics provide aural support for the four-manual 1931 Skinner organ (Opus 820). It was officially dedicated by Palmer Christian in 1931, though Edwin Arthur Kraft had demonstrated it for the American Guild of Organists’ national convention earlier in the year, prior to the building being opened to the public. The organ today is often a pilgrimage stop by enthusiasts and is hailed as representing the culmination of the career of Ernest M. Skinner. Alongside the soothing strings and Erzählers, colorful flutes of every imaginable type, imitative orchestral reeds such as the English Horn, Oboe d’Amore, and Flügel Horn, is a brilliantly rich and clear diapason chorus unlike most others. Our recitalist, Todd Wilson, will return to his Toledo roots and demonstrate the organ that influenced his early career.